The “official” birthdate of 21 Feburary 1938 as given in the Texas Birth Index is actually incorrect; the actual date was 25 February 1938. The error seems to have been made due to a transcription in numbers; Mary Alabam Sims was 21 at the time Mabel Ruth was born.5
Clayton and Ruth met in 1957 while students at Abilene Christian College. Clayton was a junior and was teaching assistant in one of the beginning chemistry courses (qualitative analysis). Ruth was a freshman and worked in the chemistry storeroom. They began dating and were known to their friends by their nicknames, “Tex” and “Sam”. At the end of the spring term, Clayton went home to San Antonio and Ruth went to Houston, where she lived with her aunt, Leitha Banks. During the early part of the summer Clayton made several 200-mile drives from San Antonio to Houston for “dates”. Romance soon won and Clayton found a job in Pasadena doing shift work at Champion Paper and Fiber Company. He lived in a boarding house with about eight other men who had various day jobs. Clayton and Ruth continued to date, eventually fell in love and were married in Houston on September 6, 1957. Shortly thereafter they went back to Abilene, where they had a small studio apartment about two blocks from campus.
During the 1957-58 school year Clayton worked as a teaching assistant and Ruth worked as Secretary to Dr. Paul Witt, the Chemistry Department Chairman. For the rest of the story of their 15-year marriage, see the note under Clayton’s page.
After Clayton and Ruth divorced Ruth was married to Herman Vandestraat for 19 years (1974-1993). For a few years (2017-2021) she lived with daughter Cheryl Jackson in Eastsound, WA, and operated Mt. Baker Farm, a vacation destination, on Orcas Island. In July 2021 Clayton and Ruth reunited and will spend their remaining years together in Martinez CA.